Forrettabarinn is an icelandic small plates restaurant in 101, Reykjavik.
Forrettabarinn, the Starters Bar, on Nylendugata builds a meal entirely from small plates, a relaxed Reykjavik room near the harbour made for grazing.
Why locals love it: Down in the old west-end harbour streets rather than on Laugavegur, this small-plates room rewards anyone who wanders a few blocks off the tourist spine.
Tip: Build a meal from four or five starters. The harbourside location keeps it quieter than the centre.
Address: Nylendugata 14, 101 Reykjavik
Why locals love it: It hides above the Hverfisgata 12 pizza-and-bar building, a Michelin-listed kitchen rewriting its globe-trotting menu weekly that many visitors walk straight past.
Tip: The menu changes every week, so no two meals match. Book ahead, the room is genuinely small.
Why locals love it: Easy to miss behind a plain Laugavegur door, this natural-wine bar pours funky bottles with serious small plates that locals guard as their after-work spot.
Tip: The kitchen punches above a wine bar's weight; the halibut and burnt broccoli are worth ordering.
Why locals love it: Entry is through Sumac with no sign of its own, an eleven-seat Michelin-starred counter that the crowds streaming past on Laugavegur never realise is there.
Tip: You book weeks ahead and enter through the Sumac grill. Two seatings a night, eleven seats only.
Why locals love it: A quiet daytime cafe that flips at five into a natural-wine bar paired with oysters and charcuterie, often missed for the bigger-name wine rooms on the same street.
Tip: Tue-Sun from 17:00 for the wine-bar shift. Burrata with romesco is the order alongside the natural pours.
Why locals love it: Tucked into the ground floor of Hotel Reykjavik Saga, an art-deco room of open kitchen and winter garden that quietly turns out modern Northern European plates without the Laugavegur crowds.
Tip: Dinner runs 18:00 to 22:00. Smart-casual room with a long bar; book for the winter-garden seats.
Why locals love it: It hides above the Hverfisgata 12 pizza-and-bar building, a Michelin-listed kitchen rewriting its globe-trotting menu weekly that many visitors walk straight past.
Tip: The menu changes every week, so no two meals match. Book ahead, the room is genuinely small.
Why locals love it: Easy to miss behind a plain Laugavegur door, this natural-wine bar pours funky bottles with serious small plates that locals guard as their after-work spot.
Tip: The kitchen punches above a wine bar's weight; the halibut and burnt broccoli are worth ordering.
Why locals love it: Entry is through Sumac with no sign of its own, an eleven-seat Michelin-starred counter that the crowds streaming past on Laugavegur never realise is there.
Tip: You book weeks ahead and enter through the Sumac grill. Two seatings a night, eleven seats only.
Why locals love it: A green shack among the harbour sheds with barrels for seats, it looks like nothing, yet inside is the langoustine soup travellers cross the city to find.
Tip: Seating is communal on barrels and benches. The langoustine soup with bread is the only order you need.
Why locals love it: A quiet daytime cafe that flips at five into a natural-wine bar paired with oysters and charcuterie, often missed for the bigger-name wine rooms on the same street.
Tip: Tue-Sun from 17:00 for the wine-bar shift. Burrata with romesco is the order alongside the natural pours.
Why locals love it: Tucked into the ground floor of Hotel Reykjavik Saga, an art-deco room of open kitchen and winter garden that quietly turns out modern Northern European plates without the Laugavegur crowds.
Tip: Dinner runs 18:00 to 22:00. Smart-casual room with a long bar; book for the winter-garden seats.
